The AHCA was DOA on the First Day.
Why? It wasn’t repeal—and then the bill was pushed on a premise of “replace.”
Obamacare does not need to be replaced, either. Government intervention is not needed. If I go to the doctor, I do not want Big Mamma Government telling me to turn my head and cough.
This whole “AHCA Y—M-C-A!” (with apologies to the Village People!) has been an overwrought snake oil scam. This Obamacare debacle is already dead, from the moment that the Democratic hordes forced it onto us, and Grandma Pelosi announcing: “We had to pass the bill so that you can see what’s it in.”
Worse has transpired. We have experienced what it’s done to the economy, the insurance industry, and our health care systems.
· Businesses cut hours, laid off workers, or never expanded.
· Medical staffers (from doctors down to the nurses’ aides) are fleeing the profession.
· Hospitals are closing.
· Local clinics are shutting down, not because of the lack of patient demand, but because the number of qualified professionals has plummeted.
The paperwork, the bureaucratese, the lack of reimbursements, the stellar invasion of Washington DC into rural and Main Street doctors’ offices have turned the health care profession into a nightmare.
Oh, and waiting times have increased by at least 30%, per the latest study.
No Obamacare replacement was ever needed. A full repeal is just what the doctor ordered. Were Republicans trying too hard or going to fast? No. The same corporate interests which have pulled strings, written checks, and cornered elected officials were back in business.
This time, though, the cherished Corporate-Corruption Care that they hoped for did not happen.
God bless the Freedom Caucus, I say!
Yet California Republicans, from regional Vice-Chair Sue Caro to Impact Republicans leader Aaron Park are cursing the winning freedom fighters. They have lived in the Blue State Bubble too long, while forgetting that Trump triumphed, turning three long-standing blue states red last year. Note to Californians who want to make California Great Again: “compromise” is not the answer in Washington DC. General George Washington didn’t settle for letting the British take their arms and tax them to death. English citizens enjoyed generations of salutary neglect, and a sudden rush of taxes from the Crown without any impute about those taxes—was just intolerable.
With right and wrong, there is no room for compromise. Do I want a little poison in my cereal, as opposed to a lot? Whether a little or a lot, it will kill me. No compromises, no half-way consequences.
Now, who is to blame for the non-passage of the non-repeal of Obamacare?
Failure, thy name is (Former?) Speaker Paul Ryan.
I am tired of this guy. I am tired of these old-school, make-nice lawmakers who won’t go all the way and kill Obamacare. What more do these losers need to see in order to know that doubling down and going the distance can and does work? Ask Phyllis Schlafly (Well, no one can ask now, since she’s dead). She fought with truth and facts against the “Equal Rights Amendment” even though Democrats and Establishment Republicans (including Presidents Nixon and Ford) wanted it.
She lamented the non-action from Republicans in the past, whether to stop Social Security (which is no longer financially insecure) or Medicare and Medicaid (which are not providing care or aid as cost overruns eat up every other line of the federal budget). She doubled down and demanded its death. “Equal rights” sounded nice, but she could see the destructive effects, including forced diminution of men, as well as the depletion of liberties and demise of key institutions like the family. Her efforts were non-stop, confrontational, and every effective. ERA went DOA.
I am not going to accept Ronald Reagan’s adage anymore: that the closest thing to eternal life on earth is a government program—and that certainly holds for Obamacare. Look over the Congressional Record, Speaker Ryan. The budget reconciliation of 2016 got rid of everything that could be removed with a simple majority in both houses.
Yet Ryan refused. Yes, he refused. He should now be treated as refuse (trash).
It’s time for Trump to stop acting like “The Apprentice” and take charge like the boss he is. He needs to walk into the Speaker’s office and say to Speaker Paul Ryan: “You’re Fired.”
OK, that scenario is a facetious hope, of course. Congress is an independent branch of government, after all. Trump’s Twitter feed and Facebook account have more effectively rallied support from the widespread supporters who brought him into office. Watch the phone calls pour in from all over the country. “Fire Ryan, or we will fire you in 2018!”
Yes, the Wisconsin Veep on the Romney ticket will take the next train to Oshkosh, and Paul Nehlen will be the next representative for Wisconsin District One. And we will get another speaker. The powerbrokers on K Street don’t want to learn their lesson, folks. They lost Election 2016. But like crusty barnacles on the leaking ship of state, they are not budging—at least not without furious scrubbing.
The Speaker of the House must speak for what is best for the people, and most importantly for the Constitution. Our work has only just begun. RyanCare was pulled. Now let’s show them we really care and have Paul Ryan pulled from the Speakership.
Obamacare still needs to be repealed: not appealed, not depleted, not fixed, nor given another shade of lipstick. The silver lining is already shining--this failure has completely thrown shade on the last vestiges of Paul Ryan as an effective or worthwhile Speaker.
His heart does not beat for what is best for you and me. He wanted to put himself in the shoes of illegal immigrants. He wants to expand the foreign workforce. The Angel Moms visited his home (with its big beautiful wall and secure borders) received no reception from him.
Enough.
Paul Ryan: You’re Fired!